As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Tides

High:1:15am/1:42pm

Low:7:13am/7:16pm

Rainfall (measured July 1 – June 30)

This Year:14.59

Last Year:7.69

Normal To Date:19.78

Annual Seasonal Average:23.80

Holidays

Good Samaritan Involvement Day

National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day

Planet Uranus Day

National Cocoanut Torte Day

Bretzelsonndeg-Luxembourg

On This Day In …

1639 --- New College was renamed Harvard College for clergyman John Harvard.

1781 --- The German-born English astronomer William Hershel discovers Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. Herschel's discovery of a new planet was the first to be made in modern times, and also the first to be made by use of a telescope, which allowed Herschel to distinguish Uranus as a planet, not a star, as previous astronomers believed. Herschel, who was later knighted for his historic discovery, named the planet Georgium Sidus, or the "Georgian Planet," in honor of King George III of England. However, German astronomer Johann Bode proposed the name "Uranus" for the celestial body in order to conform to the classical mythology-derived names of other known planets. Uranus, the ancient Greek deity of the heavens, was a predecessor of the Olympian gods. By the mid-19th century, it was also the generally accepted name of the seventh planet from the sun.

1852 --- New York Lantern newspaper published an Uncle Sam cartoon for the first time. The drawing was the work of Frank Henry Bellew. Through the years, the caricature changed with Uncle Sam becoming symbolic of the U.S. being just like a favorite uncle. A prime example of this symbolism were U.S. Army posters that portrayed Uncle Sam pointing and saying, “I want you!” As a result, many of us joined his ranks. Uncle Sam always wore a nifty suit of red, white and blue, a hat with stars and stripes down the trousers of both of his long legs. The origins of how he became known as Uncle Sam are varied, but include a dock worker wondering what the words “From U.S.” meant on shipping crates. Reportedly, he was told jokingly, “Oh, this is from your Uncle Sam.”

1868 --- For the first time in U.S. history, the impeachment trial of an American president gets underway in the U.S. Senate. President Andrew Johnson, reviled by the Republican-dominated Congress for his views on Reconstruction, stood accused of having violated the controversial Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress over his veto in 1867.

1877 --- Chester Greenwood of Farmington, ME patented the earmuff. Of course, being in very Northern Maine, he picked the right place to patent such much-needed outdoor gear, as it is extremely cold in upstate Maine for, oh, about 10 months a year. So cold, that some wear earmuffs indoors. We do here, as well, just to keep the office roar down to a minimum.

1881 --- Czar Alexander II, the ruler of Russia since 1855, is killed in the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of the revolutionary "People's Will" group. The People's Will, organized in 1879, employed terrorism and assassination in their attempt to overthrow Russia's czarist autocracy. They murdered officials and made several attempts on the czar's life before finally assassinating him on March 13, 1881. As czar, Alexander did much to liberalize and modernize Russia, including the abolishment of serfdom in 1861. However, when his authority was challenged, he turned repressive, and he vehemently opposed movements for political reform. Ironically, on the very day he was killed, he signed a proclamation--the so-called Loris-Melikov constitution--that would have created two legislative commissions made up of indirectly elected representatives.

1884 --- Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.

1891 --- Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen had written his play Ghosts in 1881. The play, which dealt with syphilis, was swiftly and universally reviled by conventionally minded critics. However, Ibsen's works had caught on with progressive theater companies across Europe. A decade after it was written, the play opens in London, where it continued to be treated harshly by critics. Today, however, the play is one of Ibsen's most commonly performed works.

1901 --- Andrew Carnegie announced that he was retiring from business and that he would spend the rest of his days giving away his fortune. His net worth was estimated at $300 million.

1902 --- In Poland, schools were shut down across the country when students refused to sing the Russian hymn "God Protect the Czar."

1915 --- Wilbert Robinson (Uncle Robby), manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, attempted to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane. Someone had substituted a grapefruit instead, which virtually exploded in his glove on impact, covering him with grapefruit pulp and juice, much to the amusement of his team.

1918 --- Women were scheduled to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York due to a shortage of men due to wartime.

1923 --- A great improvement in radio receivers was advertised. The new models had a concealed speaker and eliminated the need for headphones, which were considered a nuisance because they were so heavy to wear and messed up hairdos. The new radios were also said to have a ‘foolproof’ design.

1930 --- It was announced that the planet Pluto had been discovered by scientist Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.

1944 --- Britain announces that all travel between Ireland and the United Kingdom is suspended, the result of the Irish government's refusal to expel Axis-power diplomats within its borders. In 1922, an independent Irish republic was established after generations of conflict between Ireland and Britain. One of the conditions of that agreement was that Britain would retain control of three naval bases along the Irish coast in order to continue Ireland's defense. But as war loomed in the late 1930s, Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera negotiated an agreement that ended the British occupation of those naval bases; Ireland had declared a pre-emptive state of neutrality in any European war, and the presence of the Royal Navy on independent Irish soil violated that neutrality. De Valera did not want Ireland to become an object of attacks aimed at Britain. De Valera was willing to bargain away Irish neutrality, though, in exchange for Northern Ireland's being returned to the Irish Republic. The British were not willing to pay that price but did agree to end conscription in Northern Ireland once De Valera denounced conscription--because it forced Irish men to fight in what De Valera believed was an English war--as an "act of aggression."

1961 --- President John F. Kennedy proposes a 10-year, multibillion-dollar aid program for Latin America. The program came to be known as the Alliance for Progress and was designed to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, which had been severely damaged in recent years.

1964 --- Kitty Genovese, 28, was stabbed to death near her Queens, New York, home. The case came to be a symbol of urban apathy, though initial reports that 38 neighbors ignored Genovese's calls for help have been disputed.

1969 --- The Apollo 9 astronauts returned to Earth after the conclusion of a mission that included the successful testing of the Lunar Module.

1973 --- Pink Floyd released "Dark Side of the Moon".

1988 --- The board of trustees off Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, chose I. King Jordan to be its first deaf president. The college is a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired.

2003 --- A report in the journal "Nature" reported that scientists had found 350,000-year-old human footprints in Italy. The 56 prints were made by three early, upright-walking humans that were descending the side of a volcano.